Vacating Italy ~ Ferragosto 2014

Odd how time reshapes things. In another era, one could not get anyone on the line, start (or finish) any kind of business or move anything in Italy during the month of August. This week I reached out to several folks for info. For the most part, I got a response within an hour. They may be on the boat in Corsica or taking a nap on a warm summer afternoon in Pontignanello, but they are responding better than they ever have.


What is even odder to me is the news we hear about Italy and the economic quagmire the country is in. But folks, at least the folks I know, are on vacation. At the beach, on an island, hiking in the hills, in Miami, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Cuba, Greenland. The working ones have vacated Italy. I’m confused. The economy is in the toilet, the debt crisis is rising and folks are sailing from Marsala to Favignana for lunch?

I’ve written about it before, so it should come as no surprise that the Italians are steadfast in holding onto the tradition of August. Harvest has interrupted vacations in Lombardy and Sicily, but not for all. I could not imagine being in the work force and taking a month, even 18 days. That’s how I feel now. Maybe someday that will change.

But for those of us who are gearing up for an extended holiday selling season, once called O-N-D ( or October, November and December) we are now seeing September (S-O-N-D) come into play. Even some of the hard-core folks think of August as a prelude, war-games call them, for the holiday selling season. It never ends.

With that in mind, I will be vacating as well. In the next week or so, I plan to be offline and away from the eno-blogosphere. I might post some of my favorites from the archives, just to keep the fires burning. But please excuse me while I go in search of dry wood. See you all back here soon.

written by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

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